Corinne McCabe , Broker

Now that March is almost over and we seem to be easing into some warmer weather, it appears that Toronto’s real estate market has a bit more “spring” in its step. The Globe reported this week that Toronto has 104 construction cranes, the most tower cranes of any North American city. The next closest city was Seattle with 59 cranes. A tally of cranes in major cities provides a snapshot of economic sentiment. Based on this consulting firm’s findings, no North American city is healthier than Toronto. Just simply look up!

The freehold sector has witnessed its biggest increase of the year with listings up a whopping 117% throughout all neighbourhoods in Toronto. We aren’t surprised that would happen now that we are all back from spring break. Again, it’s the price range between $700,000 and $1,500,000 that dominates, although last week there were over 80 properties listed above $1.5M. There is still a bit of catching up to do on the sales side, however. Sold properties were down 14% week-over-week, but that should change next week now that we have more listings.

Again, a similar market exists in the resale condominium sector. Listings were up last week by 18% and the biggest jump happened in the central core’s first-time buyer’s price range of condos listed between $400K and $700K. Sales have been trending upwards as well, and we are still reporting close to 52% of condo transactions selling at or above the list price which points to continued strength in the high-rise market.

MARKET UPDATE FOR THE WEEK ENDING MARCH 22ND, 2019

Is buying a home a dream for first time buyers? In the new budget out this week the centrepiece of Ottawa’s housing plan is to help first time buyers with their new zero-interest loans on the following terms:

• CMHC will offer mortgage loans up to 10% of the purchase price of newly built homes and 5% of the value for existing homes. This incentive is in addition to the buyer’s own down payment. Your household income must be $120,000 or less. The overall value of the mortgage and CMHC loan won’t be allowed to exceed four times the household income. With that cap of $480,000 ($120,000 X 4) the highest-value home that could be purchased under the plan would be about $500,000. (Not much help for buyers in Toronto with average prices for homes and condos exceeding that amount.)

• Your household income must be $120,000 or less. 

• The deadline to repay the loan wasn’t specified but it was designed to be a long-term measure. The loans will be available starting in September.

• Also, first time buyers will now be permitted to borrow up to $35,000 from their RRSP’s, up from $25,000, the limit set 10 years ago. 

This program might be good for small cities across Canada, but from a market perspective it will not be a game changer for the housing market in the GTA. The freehold market continues to tighten with a further drop of 34% in available listings since the previous week because of the spring break. Given fewer listings, we weren’t surprised that the number of sales slipped by 24%. There is no surprise that of those properties sold, 45% sold at or above the asking price. The number of new condo listings saw no change from the previous week, but sales were up slightly by 3% and of those sold, 51% sold at or above the asking price. We are gearing up for what we believe to be an active spring market with plenty of qualified buyers waiting to find their dream home.

Without question the weather Toronto has experienced so far this year with unsightly banks of grey hardened snow and ice, has delayed the market action. The number of new listings and sales are slightly down compared to a year ago, but the good news is the average selling price for The City of Toronto is up 4.2% to $840,211 compared to last February which was $806,494. With March break upon us next week listings will be slim. Most sellers who are planning to list their properties have been instructed to wait until after the school breaks. Hopefully by then we can expect some balmy temperatures to arrive which will bring us the usual spring bounce.

As the days are getting longer, we are seeing more freehold listings come to market, up 45% from the prior week. There was a small blip in properties sold, up by 5%, and no surprise that of those properties sold, 66% sold at or above the asking price.

The condo market is not showing any signs of slowing. The condominium sector was instrumental in the price growth we have seen. The average price for a condo in The City of Toronto is up 7.4% to $612,488 compared to last February which was $570,275. New listings last week were up 36% week-over-week and the number of sold condos saw a small 4% increase, and of those condos sold 47% sold at or above the asking price.

The rental market continues to operate in high demand. Low inventory and strong competition between renters resulted in average rents increasing well above the rate of inflation on a year-over-year basis. The average one-bedroom monthly rent was up by 8.1% to $2,145 and the average two-bedroom rent was up by 7.4% to $2,810.